Golkar loses ground in C. Sulawesi

Ruslan Sangadji

The Golkar Party, which sailed through the 2004 general election with 47 percent of the vote in Central Sulawesi, was surprised by the defeat of its candidate for the province's governor.

The leader of the party's Central Sulawesi branch and its candidate in the election, Aminuddin Ponulele, was touted as the front-runner in the election.

With 1,083,013 of an estimated 1.4 million votes counted, the provisional tally Wednesday showed retired major general Bandjela Paliudju -- who was nominated by a coalition of parties, including the National Mandate Party (PAN), Crescent Star Party (PBB) and the National Awakening Party (PKB) -- maintaining his lead over his three rivals with 385,284 votes.

Bandjela was closely followed by Rully Lamadjido with 357,284 votes and Aminuddin with 273,728. The other candidate, Jusuf Paddong, stands on 56,698 votes.

Several factors were blamed for Aminuddin's loss, including the emergence of a disgruntled group within Golkar that allegedly felt slighted by the selection process for Aminuddin's running mate and worked against him in the campaign.

"I agree, they (the group) were not really supportive of Aminuddin Ponulele in the campaign," said political observer Tahmidy Lasahido of Tadulako University.

Other factors have been noted for Golkar's loss, including the inability of Golkar's political machine to counter issues surrounding Aminuddin's leadership as the incumbent governor, such as the alleged misuse billions of rupiah of assistance for Poso, which might have prompted voters to support candidates they perceived as "cleaner".

His campaign slogans, which promoted civil society, were thought to be weaker than Bandjela's, who played up his military background to attract voters seeking security after years of conflict in Palu.

Earlier, Bandjela's campaign focus on security issues was believed to be among the reasons the Democratic Party pulled its support for him, nominating Rully Lamadjido instead.

Certainly, Golkar seems to be struggling to maintain its domination over the province, which should serve as a warning to the party regarding its 2009 general election bid.***